Rear discharge-two way concrete mixer

Abstract

A rear discharge concrete mixer vehicle having a chassis comprising a cab for the vehicle operator; control means in the cab for operation of the vehicle; a rotary drum on the vehicle chassis; a discharge chute associated with the rotary drum; and auxiliary control means on the chassis for operation of the vehicle remote from the cab.

What I claim is: 
     
       1. In a rear discharge concrete mixer vehicle of the type having: a cab for an operator of the vehicle; a rotatable mixer drum; a discharge chute associated with the mixing drum for discharging mixed materials; a vehicle engine; a vehicle transmission connected to the vehicle drive train; a vehicle clutch lever for disengaging the engine from the transmission; a vehicle steering wheel connected via a vehicle steering box, a vehicle power steering system pump and a steering assist cylinder to a vehicle steering arm of the vehicle; a vehicle brake pedal connected to the vehicle wheel-braking system; and a power take-off connectable to said transmission, the improvement comprising: manually operable selector means (S1, S2) in the cab (12) for disengaging said vehicle transmission from said vehicle engine (39), for connecting said power take-off (23) to the disengaged transmission and for providing an auxiliary control path (61, 62), by-passing said vehicle steering box (42), between said vehicle steering system pump (44) and said vehicle steering assist cylinder (D2);   hydraulic pump means (36, 71), mounted on the vehicle, for providing both a supply of hydraulic working fluid and a supply of hydraulic control fluid;   bidirectional hydraulic motor means (38), which is driven by the hydraulic working fluid from said hydraulic pump means (36) and which is connected to said power take-off, for driving the vehicle in opposite directions and for braking motion of the vehicle;   first bidirectional control valve means (V1) coupled between said hydraulic pump means (36) and said hydraulic motor means (38) for controlling the direction and magnitude of the flow of hydraulic working fluid from said hydraulic pump means to said hydraulic motor means;   second bidirectional control valve means (V2) connected in said auxiliary control path (61, 63) between said vehicle steering system pump (44) and said vehicle steering assist cylinder (D2);   auxiliary vehicle-control means (L1, L2) mounted on the rear of said vehicle; and   means (70) for supplying the hydraulic control fluid to said auxiliary control means (L1, L2);   said auxiliary control means comprising: manually operable, auxiliary vehicle-transverse control means (L1) for controlling the hydraulic control fluid supplied to said first bidirectional control valve means (V1) to control said first control valve means (V1) in such a manner that the rotation direction, speed and braking of said hydraulic motor means (38) are controlled to drive the power take-off (23) correspondingly to control the direction, speed and braking of the resulting motion of the vehicle, all independently of the vehicle engine (39) and vehicle wheel-braking system; and   manually operable, auxiliary vehicle-steering control means (L2) for controlling the hydraulic control fluid supplied to said second bidirectional control valve means (V2) in such a manner as to control the power steering fluid supplied to said steering assist cylinder (D2), thereby controlling the steering of the vehicle independently of said vehicle steering box (42).     
     
     
       2. The improvement as defined in claim 1, further comprising: air cylinder means (C1) having a piston (26) for moving said clutch lever (27) to a position wherein said vehicle transmission is disengaged from said vehicle engine (39); and wherein: said vehicle power take-off is an air-controlled power take-off (23); and     said manually operable selector means comprises a manually operable pneumatic control valve means (S1) for operating said air cylinder and said air-controlled power take-off for respectively (1) moving said clutch lever to disengage said transmission from said engine and (2) connecting said power take-off (23) to the disengaged transmission.   
     
     
       3. The improvement as defined in claim 2, wherein: said manually operable selector means further comprises a manually operated selector valve means (S2), disposed in said auxiliary control path (61, 63), for selectively permitting power steering fluid from said vehicle steering system pump (44) to flow through said auxiliary control path.   
     
     
       4. The improvement as defined in claim 1. 2 or 3, wherein: said manually inoperable, auxiliary vehicle-traverse control means (L1) comprises a first manually operable lever, mounted on a rear control panel (20) of the vehicle, for manually controlling the hydraulic control fluid supplied to said first bidirectional control valve means (V1); and   said manually operable, auxiliary vehicle-steering control means (L2) comprises a second lever, also mounted on said rear control panel (20), for manually controlling the hydraulic control fluid supplied to said second bidirectional control valve means (V2).   
     
     
       5. The improvement as defined in claim 4, wherein said hydraulic motor means (38) has first and second input ports for receiving the hydraulic working fluid from said hydraulic pump means (36), and wherein said first lever is manually operable: to a first position for controlling said first bidirectional control valve means (V1) to a position wherein the relative pressures of the hydraulic working fluid applied to said first and second input ports (C,D) are such as to cause said hydraulic motor means (38) to rotate in a first direction; to a second position for controlling said first bidirectional control valve (V1) to a position wherein the relative pressures of the hydraulic working fluid applied to said first and second input ports (C,D) are such as to cause said hydraulic motor means to rotate in the opposite direction; and to a neutral position wherein the relative pressures of the hydraulic working fluid applied to said two input ports (C,D) are equal, thereby braking both the hydraulic motor and the vehicle drive train to a stop independently of the vehicle wheel-braking system. 
     
     
       6. The improvement as defined in claim 5, wherein said vehicle assist cylinder (D2) has two input steering ports (A,B), and wherein said second lever is manually operable to a first position to cause said second bidirectional control valve means (V2) to move to a position to cause the power steering fluid from said steering system pump (44) to be supplied to said steering input ports (A,B) in such a manner as to turn the vehicle's wheels, independently of said steering box (42), in a first direction, and wherein said second lever is operable to a second position to cause said second bidirectional control valve means (V2) to move to a position to cause the power steering fluid to be supplied to said steering input ports (A,B) in such a manner as to turn the vehicle's wheels in the opposite direction independently of the vehicle steering box (42). 
     
     
       7. The improvement as defined in claim 1, wherein: said manually operable selector means further comprises a manually operated selector valve means (S2), disposed in said auxiliary control path (61, 63), for selectively permitting power steering fluid from said vehicle steering system pump (44) to flow through said auxiliary control path.   
     
     
       8. In a vehicle of the type having: a cab for an operator of the vehicle; a vehicle engine; a vehicle transmission connected to the vehicle drive train; a vehicle clutch lever for disengaging the engine from the transmission; a vehicle steering wheel connected via a vehicle steering box, a vehicle power steering system pump and a vehicle steering assist cylinder to a steering arm of the vehicle; a vehicle brake pedal connected to the vehicle wheel-braking system; and a power take-off connectable to said transmission, the improvement comprising: first manually operable control means in the cab for moving the clutch lever to a position wherein the engine is disengaged from the transmission, and for connecting said power take-off to the disengaged transmission;   second manually operable control means in the cab for providing an auxiliary control path, by-passing said vehicle steering box, between said vehicle steering system pump and said vehicle steering assist cylinder;   hydraulic pump means mounted on the vehicle for providing hydraulic fluid under pressure;   hydraulic motor means coupled between said hydraulic pump means and said power take-off;   manually operable traverse control means, mounted on a rear platform of the vehicle and coupled to said hydraulic pump means, for controlling the speed, direction and braking of said hydraulic motor means and, thereby, the speed, direction and braking of the motion of said vehicle, all independently of the vehicle engine and the vehicle wheel-braking system; and   manually operable steering control means, mounted on said platform and coupled to said auxiliary control path, for diverting the flow of power steering fluid from said vehicle steering box to said auxiliary control path and said vehicle assist cylinder, thereby disabling said steering box and controlling the steering of the vehicle independently of said steering box.